D&D 5E After grabbing a ledge and climbing up, are you also then standing from prone?

[miniaturehoarder]

After jumping up to grab a ledge and climbing up, are you also then standing from prone (costing you half a move's worth of movement)?

1 square = 1 foot

 

[KarinsDad]

If the creature was not prone in the first place, it is not prone once it climbs up. Climbing does not add the prone condition.

 

[Mercule]

I'm going to be honest and say that this would be very, very dependent upon the flow of action at the time. There's a good argument for either way.

The agile, swashbuckling elf? Probably a gimme. The halfling wizard? You're done for the round. Also based around exactly how the check came about. Standing at the bottom of the ridge with a sudden wild hair to climb? Suck it up, you're using the extra movement. Running jump over a chasm that you just barely miss? Standing prone is the only penalty -- parkour!

As I've been DMing 5E, I've started to use "character themes" a lot, over trying to find specific stats/rules. The itinerant Valinar (elven) blademaster gets the benefit of the doubt on handling animals (she has proficiency in land vehicles) and stands out like a sore thumb in rural Aundair. The House Phiarlan jeweler just gets a list of the value of any gems/jewelry found and get benefit of the doubt on whether he was hiding/being inconspicuous.

 

[Jester David]

From a mechanical perspective, there's no reason to impose the penalty. Nothing in jumping has anything to do with being prone. And since standing from prone uses half your movement for a turn, it implies that climbing up the final bit of a wall - when you have far more surface to grab and are no longer fighting gravity - is harder than the rest of the climb.

From a realism perspective, when you pull yourself up you usually get up onto a knee and quickly stand. If you're a good climber, you can get a foot up and rise to standing pretty quickly. You're not really ever prone, per se.

If a Strength check is required to pull yourself up, I imagine you could offer "up but prone" as an option for a slight failure. Failing the Str check to pull up by 4 or less means you half roll into the square.

Of course, if there are no creatures at the top, you can describe the heroes as collapsing prone to catch their breath. If there are monsters, adventurers are likely to climb to the top in a way that doesn't leave them vulnerable.

 

[Mistwell]

I would require an athletics or acrobatics (DC 15) check to not be prone once you get to the top. Otherwise the circumstances result in prone (you have nothing to grab on to at the top, other than to crawl over the top and then stand from prone).

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Hmmm...I'm thinking it all depends on how many times a character can stand up, then sit down on a chair in the course of a round. I mean, you can't just use common sense here...obviously. Being able to stand/sit without it costing you movement rate...say, 14.3386" per stand/sit (modified by Dex bonus, Acrobatic and/or Athletics check, size, armor, and air humidity)... you're opening up your campaign to all kinds of rules abuse. Best to apply the same level of movement penalty/cost to reaching the top of a cliff/rope climb too, right? *LOL*, I can hear it now "You reach the top of the cliff and stand up, looking down at your foe still climbing after you!" hehehe....can you imagine? Total chaos! (heavens forbid if you are the one climbing up after the bad guy, and the DM asks you to make an Acrobatics/Athletics check to see if you can get up quickly enough else the bad guy at the top gets Initiative and an attack at advantage!... game = instant stop, that's for sure)!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

PS: Sarcasm.

 

[aramis erak]

If the climb is vertical or nearly so (75°-90° from horizontal), I'd put it as end prone; 45° and you're going up upright anyway. between the two, it's going to depend on how well you're climbing.

 

[Quajek]

If a Strength check is required to pull yourself up, I imagine you could offer "up but prone" as an option for a slight failure. Failing the Str check to pull up by 4 or less means you half roll into the square.

I like this solution. If the player succeeds on the Athletics check to climb up, they're up. If it's a close fail, then "up but prone" is appropriate.

 

[Prism]

I would say the prone condition mainly relates to being forced prone, which would often include being unbalanced, on your back, falling awkwardly etc. Kneeling at the top of a cliff or wall after a climb wouldn't fall into this category. I would not impose additional movement

 

[SkidAce]

Climbing already halves your movement...good enough for me.